FTL: Advanced Edition Adds More Space and an iPad Version

One of my favorite games of 2012 was FTL. It's a space sim roguelike-like unlike anything The game is deceptively simple and endlessly entertaining. In it, you control the crew of a starship on a desperate mission to stop the rebel alliance, or something like that. The upshot is that you control the crew, assigning them tasks like ship repair, arming the weapons, or cranking up the engines while traversing system after system. Because the game has roguelike elements, each time you play, the map changes. So while you'll likely encounter friendly merchants, hostile insect aliens and deadly plagues on one playthrough, your next trip across the galaxy will probably be very different.

Yesterday, FTL: Advanced Edition was released as a free upgrade for Mac and PC owners, as well as a brand new iPad edition. I spent some time playing both versions over the last few days, and I can unequivocally recommend them both. The iPad version is a lovely translation of the PC game, with a touch interface that works well on even the smaller screen of my IPad Mini. The game performs wonderfully on all the devices I tested, and the touch interface complements the pause-and-issue-commands nature of the game perfectly.

The Advanced Edition content adds more content to the game, in the form of new weapons, encounters, music, and at least one new race of aliens to meet. For the last two years, FTL has been my go-to game for long flights. With the launch of the iPad version and the new Advanced Edition content, I expect that to continue for at least a couple more years.